Purpose

The time has come. I have had a blast racing for Team CärboRöcket this season so far–and there is more racing on the calendar! I will likely miss my cycling goal of racing every major cycling discipline this season (fail), but not by much. I have raced a century. By myself. In mind-numbing circles…and precipitated a kidney stone. I have raced the MTB disciplines of short track, downhill, and cross-country in one Arkansas weekend. I had a podium finish in an early-season off-road triathlon. I will soon compete in a sprint-distance triathlon. I plan on racing TT and cyclocross yet this season. I missed track racing (scheduling problems) and a criterium. Short track is kind of a dirt crit, so there you go.

Is There More?

Yet all of this fun and adventure feeds my narcissism at worst, and makes me mentally and physically healthy at best. It is time to fulfill my purpose for joining Team CarboRocket: raising money to help the vision-impaired in the Ganges River Delta in India.

Most of us take our vision for granted. We awake in the morning, open our eyes to a clear world around us, work, play, and drink in stunning views from awesome singletrack. But what if there were no eye doctor to visit to get glasses or contact lenses? What if you couldn’t see to read, but there was no Wal-Mart to run to to pick up a pair of reading glasses? What if, due to Vitamin-A deficiency, you were rendered nearly blind during the day and totally blind at night?

The need is staggering: One-third of the world’s blind people live in India, as well as one-fifth of the world’s blind children. The two primary causes of blindness in India are treatable: cataracts, which can be removed with outpatient surgery, and simply needing glasses. Last year I dispensed over 200 pairs of glasses as a part of our medical team. This year, on a sinking island named Ghoramara, I hope to do more, but can only do so with your help!

Lightweight and stiff, I overbuilt this bike because I am overbuilt at over 200 pounds. My previous daily driver, (and soon-to-be current) 1998 FSR feels like riding a barcalounger in comparison, and is about that heavy to pedal uphill. Due to and in spite of its 32×16 gearing, I have propelled this beast to one podium and one near-podium (4th place) finish in racing. I am a clydesdale–too heavy to rationally race a single speed, and yet it is my favorite ride, Zen-like in its simplicity. The Fetish Cycles Fixation frame has horizontal dropouts for ease in adjusting chain tension, but comes with a derailleur hanger in case you want to run it geared, which you may. It features a 29″ rigid carbon fork up front that, when combined with the 29″ Bontrager disc wheel soaks up chatter nicely and rolls on through roots and rocks. It also sports skull cable guides by Dirty Dog MTB for that extra hint of bad-assness.

Skull cable guides by Dirty Dog MTB

The 26″ rear wheel has a White Brothers single-speed hub. Flip it around if you are a masochist and ride trails fixed-gear. The cockpit is outfitted with goodies from Ritchey. It rides as if it has about 2″ of “travel”. For a fully rigid setup, I am convinced that 29″ up front and 26″ in the rear is the way to go. This thing climbs like a mountain goat. I have yet to find some small, steep climb that I cannot power up with this bike that I can spin on my FSR in the granny. It pushes me harder when racing because hills present you with a choice: get out of the saddle and power up the hill, or get off and walk. Click here for full specs.

All business in the front, party in the rear.

Donate

If you don’t want or need this bike, I’ll bet you know someone that does. $10 buys you a chance to win this bike. If you feel so inclined to donate $100, you will have ten chances. Every ten dollars buys about fifteen pairs of recycled glasses via Lions Club International, or medicine for about four people. Every hundred dollars can buy cataract surgery for two people in Calcutta. Every dollar will go toward fighting blindness in Ghoramara in the first week in November. The auction will run for two weeks and end on Friday, September 24 when I will announce the winner. Remember, any amount will be appreciated and put to good use, but at least $10 is required to enter the drawing. Thanks in advance, and let me know via comments if you have any questions! Click the “Donate” button below to help.